A solo canoeing trip in the wilderness goes wrong Janice finds herself stranded in the middle of nowhere when her canoe gets destroyed in the unforgiving rapids. Things go from bad to worse when she tries to dry her clothes and gets chased away by a bear. Things get hot when an unlikely hero arrives to save her.
~~~~~ PG Excerpt ~~~~~
Trees and bushes tore at her skin. She ran until her lungs burned, and then she ran some more. A star athlete in college and a dedicated fitness enthusiast, she let her training take over, setting a hard pace as she dashed over and under obstacles. Time melted away. She had run far enough that whatever was behind her should have either caught her or given up, but fear drove her forward. Shadows grew in the forest as the sun retreated behind the mountains and trees. The sun lingered on the horizon casting its last rays before settling down for the night. As Janice burst into a clearing of trees, her leg caught on a rotting branch, throwing her to the ground. She collided against the hard Earth with a sickening thud.
Janice tried to stand up and keep moving, but pain seared up her ankle. She stumbled forward two paces when she heard something moving in front of her. A giant Brown bear lumbered into the clearing. It must have tracked her all the way from the river. She realized that, even before her ankle twisted, she never had a chance to outrun her pursuer.
The bear swung its head side to side, froth dripping from its mouth. It sniffed at Janice with its long snout and reared up on massive hind legs, roaring into the tree tops. Janice cowered in a ball, trying to remain as motionless as possible. She clenched her eyes shut as she waited for the inevitable and hoped for a quick end.
Both Janice and the bear flinched at the sound of another beast roaring in the forest. Moments later, the echoes faded away and were replaced by the sound of heavy feet moving through the underbrush astonishingly fast. Janice put her hands on her head and got as low to the ground as possible. The bear snarled and stood to its full height, blocking out the moon.
